The anniversaries of several dramatic battles coincide next year, with
Agincourt, Waterloo and Ypres all the subject of special escorted tours.
Nick Trend reports

Nothing brings history alive more vividly than visiting the places, the buildings and, perhaps more than anything, the battlefields where it happened, especially with a guide who knows the subject thoroughly. Not only will you understand much better the physical and strategic challenges faced by the soldiers and the generals, but you will feel an emotional connection too. These are the fields where men triumphed and where they fell. The graves of those who never returned are still there, a particularly poignant thought this Remembrance Sunday.

I understood this most clearly, when, a few years ago and with the help of his wartime journal, I uncovered the exact locations where my grandfather had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. The Germans had launched the assault with the infamous chlorine gas attack on April 22 1915, and he had been sent into the Salient to attempt to reinforce the allied lines. In July, still fighting to push back the German advance, he was finally gunned down and critically wounded near Boesinghe.

It was intensely moving to follow the emotions and the events in the diary on the ground where they happened. And it helped make sense of the chaos, to drive home the reality of what he had been through 100 years ago. Unexpectedly, after walking the gently undulating fields, discovering the canal banks where he had dug in, tracing the white crosses inscribed with the names of the soldiers in his platoon, I came away with a better understanding not so much of the horror, but of how so many men survived and coped with the war. For the centenary next year, I hope to go back with my own children.

But Ypres is not the only major wartime anniversary to fall in 2015. There will also be centurial commemorations for Agincourt (1415), Waterloo (1815) and Gallipoli (1915). In all, it is an extraordinary line-up: the two great victories over the French, the grim conflict with the Turks in the Dardanelles (some historians call it disaster), and the heroic resistance on the Western Front are four of the most critical conflicts in British history, and all are being well covered by professional guides and battlefield tour specialists.

Historically, Waterloo is arguably the most significant. The story of the close-fought battle with Napoleon’s forces is a dramatic one, and if you are into costume re‑enactments, you might want to travel on July 19 and 20 when they are happening on a large scale.

Agincourt, meanwhile, proved a victory in vain. Despite Henry V’s heroics, he died before he could inherit the French throne and unite the kingdoms. But it was a glorious moment and thanks to Shakespeare it has become part of our national psyche. Another re-enactment – of the famous arrow storm – happens here on July 25, though the actual anniversary, is October 25.

The anniversary of the amphibious landings by the Australians and New Zealanders at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli falls on April 25, but most escorted tours and cruises are departing a little later in the year.

Next year also sees the 75th anniversary of Dunkirk, the 70th anniversary of the detonation of the first atom bomb over Hiroshima, and the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. All are being marked by battlefield or history tours. In each of the sections below, tours are ordered by departure date, although please note that some may offer more than one departure during the year.

The Lion's Mount at Waterloo battlefield (Alamy)

Agincourt 1415 and Waterloo 1815

Dr John Sadler, a lecturer in war studies, is your guide on Agincourt & Crécy: The 600th Anniversary Tour, run by the Cultural Experience (0345 475 1815; theculturalexperience.com). He leads a six-day exploration of the battles at Agincourt, Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), to include the scheduled anniversary re-enactments and the so-called “Big Shoot” at Agincourt where around 1,000 archers will recreate the battle’s first arrow storm (July 25). July 22-27, from £1,795 including train travel.

The five-day Brussels and the Battle of Waterloo tour from Shearings (0844 209 7143; shearings.com) is themed in particular around Napoleon’s story. It is based at the Martins Grand Hotel in Waterloo, and highlights on the battlefield include Lion’s Mound, Napoleon’s final headquarters, and the Wellington Museum. There is also a full day in Brussels and an excursion to Ghent (though these are not related to the Battle of Waterloo). Departures between April and August, from £419 including coach travel.

Coinciding with the exact June dates of the battle, the Waterloo 200th Anniversary Tour 2015 is a five-day tour offered by Leger (0844 846 0808; leger.co.uk) which takes in the spectacle of the re-enactments as well as a tour of the key sites of the field. A specialist guide will accompany the group. June 15-19, from £349 including coach travel.

The Cultural Experience (0345 475 1815; theculturalexperience.com) is offering two tours to mark the bicentenary. The shorter, four-day trip called Waterloo 1815: The Bicentennial coincides with the large-scale re-enactments of June 19 and 20, when grandstand seating will be provided for onlookers to watch the events unfold. Alternatively, an eight-day Full Anniversary Waterloo Campaign Tour includes the re-enactments as well as visiting all the major battlefields of the conflict including Quatre Bras, Ligny, Wavre and Waterloo. June 15-22, from £1,995 (full tour) or June 18-21 from £1,045 (weekend tour) including coach travel.

Bartletts Battlefield Journeys (01507 523128; battlefields.co.uk) can arrange a five-day Waterloo itinerary with a battlefield tour guide tailored to the personal interests of participants, with group sizes of up to seven guests. Prices include all meals (and wine with supper), and accommodation is in three and four-star hotels. June 18-22, from £1,295 including travel in small, air-conditioned vehicles.

The three-night Battle of Waterloo tour from Kirker Holidays (020 7593 1899; kirkerholidays.com) is cast as an investigation into the tactics and manoeuvres which led to Napoleon’s defeat. Staying at the historic Belle Epoque Metropole hotel in Brussels, it is led by Hugh Macdonald-Buchanan, an expert in battlefield strategy. July 10-13 and October 2-5 from £798 including rail travel.

Re-enactment of the Battle of Agincourt (Alamy)

Ypres 1915

Martin Randall (020 8742 3355; martinrandall.com) has a full-on four-day tour called Flanders Fields – Walking the Battlefields of World War I which includes an examination of the Second Battle of Ypres, which began on April 22 1915. That was the ominous date that marked the first use of poisonous gas by the Germans on the Western Front. Based in a mid-range hotel located near the Menin Gate, the tour is accompanied by the military expert Andrew Spooner, a visiting lecturer at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, and includes some exploration of the landscape on foot. June 4-7, from £1,240 including coach travel.

Telegraph Tours (0843 178 4766) has just launched a four-night luxury coach tour of Ypres and the Western Front with a special contribution by Andrew Motion, the former poet laureate. He will perform recitals of the work of Great War poets, as well as attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate and speak at an exclusive dinner. Operated by Leger, the tour also includes visits to Arras and to the Somme battlefield, and is accompanied throughout by the broadcaster and historian, Paul Reed. The tour also includes a private visit to the fascinating In Flanders Field Museum in Ypres. Price: £599. For full details and pricing see telegraph.co.uk/battlefields.

Barrie Friend and Rhydian Vaughan (who also feature in Titan’s Waterloo tour) lead a five-day itinerary called Corners of a Foreign Field: A Centenary Remembrance Tour, with Titan (0800 988 5823; titantravel.co.uk). The price includes home pickup and drop-off, with the first two days dedicated to the Flanders battlefields and an insight into the events that took place around Ypres in 1915, with a chance to attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. The tour finishes with a visit to the battlefields of the Somme. Departures between May and October, from £799 including coach travel.

Bruges, The Ardennes and The Last Post By Rail is a new seven-day tour exploring Bruges, Poperinge and Ypres from a hotel base in Lille. A visit to Ypres Salient and Tyne Cot Cemetery is followed by a trip to the In Flanders Fields museum and Menin Gate. The itinerary, offered by Travelsphere (0844 567 5214; travelsphere.co.uk) continues in the Belgian Ardennes and the town of Bouillon where there’s a three-night stay to take in the Second World War battlefields, with a final excursion to Dinant to enjoy its Gothic church, citadel and riverside cafés. Departures between April and September, from £699 including rail travel.

Trafalgar (0800 533 5616; trafalgar.com) has a 12-day journey starting in London and allowing for a half-day visiting the Imperial War Museum to discover some of the stories and strategies behind the trip to come. The World War I and II Battlefields tour travels through France, Belgium and Amsterdam and there are two nights in Lille with an exploration of the Ypres battlefields including Tyne Cot, Langemarck, Vancouver Corner and Passchendale. You will also see Essex Farm Cemetery where Lt Col John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields”. Departures between April and August, from £2,525 including coach travel.

The Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium (Alamy)

Combination tours for Waterloo & Agincourt

A new, four-day tour called Journey through history: Waterloo to Agincourt starts with a walk along the Kent coastline and an exploration of Sir John Moore’s construction of more than 100 defensive martello towers. The itinerary from Saga (0800 096 0074; travel.saga.co.uk) also takes in the battlefields of Waterloo and Agincourt with a focus on comparing the warfare tactics used in these conflicts, 400 years apart. The tour will also visit Mons, the 2015 European Capital of Culture and give time for sightseeing in Brussels. Departures between April and October 2015, from £499 including coach travel.

The five-day Agincourt, Crécy & Waterloo tour from Martin Randall (020 8742 3355; martinrandall.com) combines the anniversaries of Agincourt and Waterloo and examines the conflict at Crécy in 1346 when Edward III and the Black Prince defeated the French. It is led by the military historian and author Major Gordon Corrigan. Three of the nights are spent in Waterloo with a day spent walking the battlefield with stops for explanation at key points. July 6-10 and September 2-6, from £1,760 including coach travel. Accompanied by military expert Barrie Friend and Rhydian Vaughan, a former Welsh Guards officer and war historian, the new, five-day Waterloo and the Great War tour from Titan (0800 988 5823; titantravel.co.uk) begins with a background talk at the Grand Hotel in Folkestone. Then, from a five-star base in Genval, there are two days allocated to exploring the battlefields and museums of Waterloo and Brussels. The itinerary winds up with visits to the First World War memorials commemorating the first and last shots, and to the canal at Ors where the poet Wilfred Owen was killed. Departures between May and October, from £799 including coach travel.

Gallipoli 1915

From Galicia to Greece is a month-long Saga Sapphire Cruise (0800 096 0079; travel.saga.co.uk) departing Southampton which commemorates the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign and focuses on the role of the Mediterranean during the First World War. The ship arrives at Anzac Cove on April 25, the day when it saw the Gallipoli landings in 1915, and remains at anchor for a service on board with time to reflect on the events. Soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will perform a one-hour recital during the cruise. April 5-May 6, from £5,821 including travel from Southampton. Trafalgar (0800 533 5616; trafalgar.com) has regular departures for its 14-day Best of Turkey itinerary, one of which coincides with the official commemoration of the Gallipoli landings on April 25. As well as an exploration of the peninsula and Anzac Cove, there’s a chance to reflect in Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair cemeteries where many Allied soldiers are buried. Istanbul, Troy, Ephesus and Cappadocia are also tour highlights. April 19-May 2, from £1,595 including flights.

Gallipoli Battlefields – 100 years on is an eight-day tour that concentrates on the Dardanelles region with an initial visit to Gabatepe and Helles Memorial where most of the soldiers who fell in the conflict are buried. The tour, run by Leger (0844 846 0808; leger.co.uk) continues to the landing sites of River Clyde, Anzac Beach and Lancashire Landing. Day four ends on the New Zealand battlefield at Chunuk, before travelling on to Sulva Bay and Shell Green. The trip culminates with a stop at Channakale, the archaeological site of Troy, and an afternoon in Istanbul. May 2-8 and September 19-25, from £1,095 including flights (a £50 reduction applies to the September tour if booked before November 30 2014).

A significant part of the nine-day Istanbul and Gallipoli tour run by Kirker Holidays (020 7593 2284; kirkerholidays.com) is dedicated to exploring the battlefields of the ill-fated campaign at Gallipoli. Expert lecturer Dr Neil Faulkner will shed light on what went wrong for the Allies. As well as the hastily dug trenches and tunnels, the itinerary will take in Anzac Cove and Commemoration Site, the Beach Cemetery and Brighton Beach. The tour will also include Istanbul, Çanakkale, Troy and an insight into the Crimean War with a visit to the Florence Nightingale Museum. June 13-21 and September 20-28, from £1,885 including flights.

The Royal British Legion, in partnership with Arena Travel (01473 660800; arenatravel.com), is offering a Journeys of Remembrance tour to Gallipoli, which explores the peninsula and the conflict between the Allies and Turkish troops, from April 2015 to January 2016. It focuses on the politics and military tactics as well as the plight of the soldiers of the first Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac). Travel and itinerary details have yet to be finalised. September 20-27, from £2,345 including flights.

The Lone Pine Cemetery in Turkey (Alamy)

From Dunkirk to Vietnam

Dunkirk 1940

Another partnership between the Royal British Legion and Arena Travel (01473 660800; arenatravel.com) is the Dunkirk – 75th Anniversary seven-day tour which commemorates the evacuation of Dunkirk in May 1940. Travel and itinerary details have yet to be finalised but the tour will follow the route taken by British troops and examine the start of Operation Dynamo. It will remember the little ships of Dunkirk that were called into emergency service and the many lives that were saved as well as lost. May 20-26, from £995 including coach travel.

Hiroshima 1945

Splendours of Japan with Hiroshima is a somewhat unfortunate title, perhaps, but this 13-day Japanese itinerary from Trafalgar (0800 533 5616; trafalgar.com) focuses particularly on a visit to the city of Hiroshima incorporating the Peace Memorial Park, Atomic Bomb Museum and Shukkeien Garden to commemorate the 70th anniversary year. Other trip highlights include Tokyo, Takayama (known as “little Kyoto”), the Unesco World Heritage site of Shirakawago and a two-night stay in Kyoto. Departures from March to October, from £3,713 excluding flights.

Vietnam 1975

Next year marks 40 years since the end of the Vietnam War and this 11-day Highlights of Vietnam itinerary from Trafalgar (0800 533 5616; trafalgar.com) includes a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels with a knowledgeable local guide to explain the importance of these during military operations. There will be a dinner at Mr Henry Cabot Lodge, the home of the American Ambassador to South Vietnam in the Sixties, and a chance to visit the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh. Other highlights include Hanoi, the Unesco site of Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An and a cruise on the Mekong Delta. April 11-21, from £1,546 excluding flights.